The ESPN FC panel preview the upcoming Premier League season and note what they're looking forward to.

It's been a wild one today with Tony Pulis leaving Crystal Palace, the Suarez ban appeal ruling coming down and Antonio Conte being named Italy's new national team manager. But don't trifle us with "other" football news; all we care about is Transfer Talk!

- Atletico Madrid have made a 27 million euro offer for Marco Reus and expect a deal to be completed quickly. Cadena Cope report Borussia Dortmund are only open to selling so that they don't lose the German forward to Bayern Munich next season.

- Real Madrid are said to be keeping tabs on Liverpool starlet Raheem Sterling who is set to be offered a quadruple-your-wages deal at Anfield to keep him from Carlo Ancelotti's grasp.

22.59 BST: Right folks, that's all for this week but a new Premier League season is sure to bring rumours galore. Brace yourselves!

22.31 BST: Joe Hart and Edin Dzeko are the latest Manchester City players in line for new contracts, but Yaya Toure may be made to wait for new terms. READ MORE

21.57 BST:Victor Moses will have a medical at Stoke City on Saturday morning ahead of a season-long loan from Chelsea, according to the Telegraph.

21.14 BST: Fun fact about Robert Earnshaw -- he's the only player to score a hat trick in all four divisions of English football, the FA Cup, the League Cup and at international level. Do you feel enriched?

21.11 BST: Colorado Rapids have signed veteran Welsh striker Robert Earnshaw, with coach Frank Yallop commenting: "Robert is a veteran player with a wealth of international experience. He's a gifted, natural goal-scorer who is already familiar with the league, and we're glad to have him join the Fire as we continue the second half of the MLS campaign."

20.25 BST: Let Lucas Leave! He's a bit injury prone and has struggled to maintain a place in Brendan Rodgers' plans at Anfield, but Lucas Leiva still has a lot to offer in defensive midfield. Now, according to the Daily Star, he's angling for a move to join former boss Rafa Benitez as his new side, Napoli.

With the Serie A side trying and failing to land several other players in that position, notably Spurs' Sandro and Villarreal's Jonathan de Guzman, perhaps the 27-year-old Brazilian can fulfill their need.

20.24 BST: Hands off Derby County winger Jamie Ward, who's just signed a new two-year deal to remain with Steve McClaren's side as they aim again at promotion to the Premier League. Ward has scored 28 goals in 122 appearances for the Rams.

20.22 BST: Big news out of the Isthmian League Premier Division as Billericay Town announced the signing of Seedy Njie from Southend United. The young forward could get his Blues debut this weekend against Lewes FC.

19.42 BST: Here's one of the more curious whispers of the window. The Leicester Mercury has been on the Esteban Cambiasso beat for quite some time and the latest development, apparently, is that the Argentina and Internazionale midfielder has completed a medical for the Foxes, leaving the full move a formality. As always, though, we won't believe it until the player's holding up the shirt.

19.00 BST: Let's catch our breath for a moment. Burnley are looking to improve themselves with the Prem season just hours away, and their current target is reportedly Wigan's can-do, do-all midfielder James McArthur.

Though that doesn't mean Wigan boss Uwe Rosler is willing to ease their transition to the top flight...

Uwe Rosler confirms Wigan have turned down approach from Burnley for midfield star James McArthur.

18.09 BST: Auf Widersehen, Per.Not a transfer as such this but Per Mertesacker has taken leave of his duties with the Germany national team. After 104 caps and a World Cup winner's medal, Mertesacker has opted to hang up his international boots.

17.42 BST: Paul Lambert has hailed the signing of 'The Rock' Carlos Sanchez as "a great coup for Villa" after the Colombia World Cup star completed his move from Spanish side Elche.

17.18 BST: The transfer boys at Southampton don't know whether they'll be playing this weekend! Apparently Ronald Koeman has not decided whether to start new signing Shane Long or want-away midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

17.11 BST: New Watford signing Lloyd Dyer has told the Watford Observer why he rejected the chance to play in the Premier League with Leicester City. Apparently the Midlands club 'went back on their word' about things behind the scenes and so Dyer jumped ship. Add that to the fact he wanted to play with Matej Vydra, and the whole thing makes some sense.

17.06 BST: Legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is hoping a new contract can be sorted out between his representatives and Juventus. The 36-year-old stopper's contract runs out this time next summer and hopes he can extend his stay with the Bianconeri past the 14 years he has already been there. He told reporters: "I have already had 14 seasons at Juve. So it would be doubly nice to continue to move forward together, truly if the club will agree. Between us we have created such a relationship of mutual trust that no problems will come from it. The problems, if any, will arise when I no longer reach a certain level of performance."

Lets be honest, it would be weird to see him in any other club's shirt!

17.01 BST: Nice to see Crystal Palace's new signing hasn't taken Tony Pulis' decision to leave as personal...

New @CPFC defender Martin Kelly, signed by Pulis on Thursday, joked this morning, 'I didn't think I trained that bad yesterday!"

16.47 BST: Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has told reporters he will not overspend on targets Oussama Assaidi from Liverpool or Nathan Redmond from Norwich City. The Welsh manager wants to complete his squad with a pacey winger but said: ""If we hit the maximum we think any player is worth, that's as far as we go. We are still hopeful on a number of fronts, we just have to bide our time."

16.40 BST: Mircea Lucescu has advised Douglas Costa to ignore interest from the likes of AC Milan to stay with Shakhtar Donetsk for 'at another year'. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the Romanian coach said: "Take another year of the Champions League with us and you will be perfect." He also claimed Costa was better than James Rodriguez. Looks like Real Madrid shelled out a lot of money for a dud!.. if you believe everything you're told.

16.33 BST: If by the start of next week Manchester United have not made a firm offer of at least 50 million euros plus Arturo Vidal himself putting in a transfer request, then Juventus will close the door on a sale this summer. When asked by a fan where his future lies, Vidal responded: "Training."

16.17 BST: Liverpool could launch an attack to sign Alex Song from Barcelona. The Daily Star claim Barca are extremely willing to sell and will accept bids in the region of 15 million pounds. However interest has waned at such a high price for a player who has barely featured for two years at the Nou Camp.

16.10 BST: In a bizarre set of circumstances, Atletico Madrid have apparently offered to send Jan Oblak back to Benfica. Diego Simeone only just signed the Slovenian this summer but was apparently willing to sell him back to Benfica chairman Luis Filipe Vieirawho told reporters: "It was a surprise that Oblak fled again but life takes many turns and we have been offered the player back. We don't want him! He's escaped twice."

16.00 BST: Arsenal could sell Lukas Podolski according to reports. The German World Cup winner has been attracting the interest of several Bundesliga clubs as well as Galatasaray and Besiktas with Arsene Wenger keen to recoup as much of the 11 million pounds they bought him for.

All smiles now but it could be tears for Lukas Podolski as his Arsenal future looks pretty bleak.

15.55 BST: Steve Bruce is set to spend spend spend as he enjoys the 12 million pounds received from Southampton for Shane Long. Speaking at a press conference he said: "We got what, in our opinion, was a fabulous offer. We will invest that money into the squad to make it bigger and better, and we'll be looking to find a replacement." So do not fret too much Hull fans!

15.48 BST: Crystal Palace caretaker boss Keith Millen has said the club's move to sign Wilfried Zaha was not central to Tony Pulis stepping down, as has been reported. Speaking at a press conference today, Millen claimed the club had been looking at Zaha all summer as he 'ticked plenty of boxes.'

15.39 BST: Hellas Verona and Udinese are in a pickle trying to sign Lucas Evangelista from Sao Paulo. According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Brazilian is owned by both Sao Paulo and Desportivo Brasil. Sao Paulo loaned him to Desportivo in June last year and handed over most but not all of his economic rights. However, now the player wants to leave for Italy, Desportivo are refusing to sell even though Sao Paulo can sell their share in the player. However in order for a deal to go through the Italian clubs want to buy 100% of the player.

There are agents talking saying Desportivo's rights aren't valid etc etc etc. It's much like the Marcos Rojo situation at Sporting Lisbon but even more complicated.

15.32 BST: And that should put to bed any remaining rumours about Dani Alves' future!

The agent of Barcelona right back Dani Alves (31) has confirmed that the player will continue at Barcelona this season. [tmw]

15.18 BST: Former Brazil international Adriano is keen to return to Italy. According to L'Equipe the former Inter Milan striker is interesting recently relegated Serie B side Catania and could make a move on a free. He says he doesn't care what division he plays in, he just wants to play football.

15.07 BST: It doesn't happen often but today Inter Milan's Danilo D'Ambrosio has revealed he rejected the chance to sign for Chelsea when he was 16 during Jose Mourinho's first spell in charge. The Express have quoted him as saying: "I remember everything, the crazy atmosphere, the facilities, fantastic but, in the end, in agreement with my family, I decided not to go there."

15.00 BST: DONE DEAL! Former Juventus, Celtic, Birmingham, Wigan and Levante man Olivier Kapo has finally found a new club after leaving Greek side APO Levadiakos. On a free, the Frenchman has signed for Polish first division side Korona Kielse.

14.21 BST: Fiorentina left Juan Cuadrado at home for the friendly against Real Madrid for tactical reasons. And now Los Blancos have left Isco at home for 'personal reasons.' Hate to be a cynic but could those personal reasons possibly be that he is heading out of the club this summer?

Is Isco's short-lived Real Madrid dream about to come to an end having been left out of the friendly squad travelling to Poland?

14.16 BST: Jose Mourinho is sure he will be able to keep both Thibault Courtois and Petr Cech happy at Stamford Bridge this season. The Express are reporting that the Portuguese mastermind is sue both will remain at the club for at least the next year.

He said about the possibility of Cech leaving: "There is no offer or possibility. It's not good to analyse something that is not on the table." Read the full story here.

14.10 BST: Spurs have been aided in their search for a new striker by Wolfsburg's purchase of Nicklas Bendtner. The Express claim the German club will now not follow up their interest in Roma striker Mattia Destro meaning Spurs have a clear run at landing the 24 million pound man.

14.04 BST: Swansea City have been laughed at. Literally. Montpellier manager Rolland Courbis has said the Welsh club's offer for Benjamin Stambouli was 'laughable' and then went off on a tirade of abuse about the Welsh club. He said: "Swansea to me is not a big club, but it's a good club. Montpellier is a great club, but it's a good club. It's like you have a country that has an international player and Montpellier are interested in a player there, you have the coach or player who say 'well, it's not that it's Ajaccio, Evian Thonon or Valenciennes asking you but this is not Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Monaco either, it's Montpellier! So for me, Newcastle is the Montpellier of England. And Swansea, I do not know if it's even the Montpellier of England? Already, it is not in England, it is in Wales. Because when (Swansea's interest) came to my ears, I almost laughed and took a nervous giggle. There's even that sum? Wales ... this financial monstrosity ... and a 8-year contract, too?!"

Wow.

14.00 BST: Blackpool must be desperate for players if they're going after perennial troublemaker Nile Ranger.

Blackpool have agreed deal for Nile Ranger. He could not wait for Leeds offer to materialise.

13.56 BST: Harry Redknapp in his usual fashion has suggested QPR are after another striker and that the club is not facing a choice between signing Jonathan De Guzman OR Leroy Fer. He told reporters: "We've got Charlie Austin and we'll have Loic and we've got Bobby Zamora. We've got three strikers. In an ideal world you'd look for somebody else who could play up there but at the moment we're not close to doing anything else. They're both players (Fer and De Guzman) we've made enquiries about. At the moment though I don't know where those enquires have gone."

13.45 BST: More from that Manchester City press conference as Manuel Pellegrini now expects James Milner to stay.

Man City also hoping James Milner - good pro that he is - will be as committed as normal now it is almost certain he won't be leaving

13.34 BST: Merry-go-round time again... Inter Milan want to sell Fredy Guarin or Ricky Alvarez for approximately 15 million euros in order to secure the signing of Jonathan Biabany from Parma. Tuttosport say though that Parma are interested in Alvarez but won't pay anywhere near the money Inter are asking.

13.30 BST: Short and sweet report from A Bola saying the future of Sporting Lisbon's Diego Capel lies in England. Where, you ask? No, they don't know either.

13.24 BST: More on the future of Daley Blind! Apparently Ajax aren't too devastated if he goes.

Of course, Ajax would like to keep Blind. But they have his successor lined up. A good offer is all that's needed at the moment.

13.17 BST:Caetano Calil's future is still uncertain after his transfer to New York Cosmos is off, even though they were in advanced talks with Varese. The Brazilian may end up at Salernitana but it looks increasingly like the MLS-bound player will remain in Italy.

13.11 BST: Portuguese striker Helder Postiga is wanted by both Sporting Lisbon and Benfica according to A Bola. But Valencia will be reluctant to sell unless they can bring in new signings ahead of the window shutting.

13.05 BST: DONE DEAL! Fulham with yet another signing this window!

US U17 midfielder Lucas De La Torre joins Fulham. Highly rated by the club, he can play anywhere across midfield. #USMNT

13.02 BST: A host of Premier League clubs are said to be chasing highly-rated Bayer Leverkusen defender Philipp Wollscheidaccording to Sky Sources. Southampton, Hull, Newcastle and Sunderland are all keen and could get the German youngster on loan as Leverkusen are not keen to sell.

12.55 BST: Roma striker Marco Borriello is close to joining Cesena according to reports. The newly promoted side will pay less than one million euros for the experienced attacker who spent the last six months of last season at West Ham United.

12.50 BST: Napoli and Manchester United are still in talks about the transfer of Marouane Fellaini. Il Mattino claim the clubs have hit a deadlock but are determined to iron out a deal before the transfer window shuts.

12.44 BST: These managers, they are so very non-committal around transfer window time!

Mourinho on any more transfers: "The market is open. You never know what can happen. The reality is I'm happy with my squad, my club."

12.42 BST: Manchester City flop Stevan Savic, who has rebuilt his career somewhat at Fiorentina, is now a target for Bayern Munich. According to Ita Sport Press, Bayern are willing to sign the Montenegrin but will have to stump up at least 13 million euros to begin negotiations.

12.37 BST: Despite weeks of saying Marco Reus is close to signing a new deal at the club, Borussia Dortmund are said to be about to accept a 27 million euro offer for the German international. Atletico Madrid are hoping to wrap up a deal quickly according to Cadena Cope who say the Spanish champions will pay 17 million euros up front and a further ten million euros in January.

12.29 BST: Hull City boss Steve Bruce has branded the rumours linking him with a 14 million pound move for Danny Welbeck and an audacious bid for Rafael Van Der Vaart as 'ridiculous'. The Hull Daily Mail claim Bruce is not preparing huge offers for these players despite receiving a cash windfall from the sale of Shane Long.

12.21 BST: Fiorentina are set to make an audacious ten million euro offer for Real Madrid's Sami Khediraaccording to AS. The German's Bernebeu career appears to be over and La Viola are hopeful of taking advantage of the fact his girlfriend wants to move to Florence and Los Blancos don't want to see him leave for free next season.

12.06 BST: According to reports in Sport Bild, Fulham are set to accept bids for Bryan Ruiz from Ajax and Werder Bremen. The German club will struggle to raise the six million euros the Cottagers want but are still hopeful a deal can be agreed as Felix Magath and the Costa Rica captain do not get along.

12.01 BST: Chelsea are set to announce the departure of Josh McEachran on yet another loan spell. This time the young midfielder will be loaned to Vitesse Arnhem according to reports.

11.55 BST: Porto defender Rolando has turned down a move to Galatasaray as he holds out for a permanent deal to Inter Milan according to A Bola.

11.49 BST: QPR are set to make an audacious bid to sign former Arsenal midfield enforcer Alex Song. The Barcelona man is no longer wanted in Spain and the Daily Star claimHarry Redknapp is keen to bring Song in on loan to help keep QPR in the Premier League. However it is though the Cameroon international is holding out for a better offer and Barca are more willing to sell than loan him.

11.46 BST: Ajax boss Frank De Boer has given the biggest bit of encouragement yet for Manchester United to come after Daley Blind by saying that if a big bid came in, the Dutch champions wouldn't stand in his way. The Express are reporting De Boer is resigned to losing the Dutch international and said: "We all know that if there is a certain amount on the table we cannot refuse. Then we'll wish him all the best."

Could Louis Van Gaal and Daley Blind be reunited at Manchester United after the defender was spotted house hunting around Manchester last week.

11.41 BST: Manchester United No.2 Anders Lindergaard is a target for Benfica according to the Daily Mail. The Danish stopper's agent Michael Stensgaard said: 'Anders would consider staying in England, but he is actually open to other opportunities too.'

11.37 BST: DONE DEAL! Finally Nicklas Bendtner has a new club! And we are all delighted for him!

11.33 BST: Ravel Morrison. Russia. Spartak Moscow. It's a real rumour. Apparently the Russian club want to bring the troubled West Ham midfielder to the club according to Izvestia.

11.29 BST: Scottish champions Celtic will be hoping to reinforce their squad enough to get into the Champions League qualifying round after stiking lucky against Legia Warsaw... well not really but you know what we mean! According to reports, Celtic will move for Mubarak Wakaso after the Ghanaian had several bids from Italy not materialise. Wakaso could sign on loan as Rubin Kazan have no desperate need to sell the player.

11.24 BST: Juventus look set to miss out on Benfica defender Luisao after the Portuguese club's president said the rumour was not true. Speaking to Benfica TV,Luis Felipe Vieira said: "Luisao to Juventus? It is not true. If the Bianconeri want to talk to us they can but the guy has already said he would end his career with us."

11.20 BST: Brentford reinforcing their bid to stay in the Championship!

11.15 BST: Palermo had been close to signing Oscar Duarte from Club Brugge but according to the Daily Mail, Sunderland have entered the race to sign the Costa Rican defender.

11.11 BST: Former Manchester United legend Massimo Taibi (...) has run the rule over AC Milan's potential transfers. He says Alessio Cerci would be a good addition to the squad and that he doesn't know whether he wants Mario Balotelli to remain at the club. Useful insight.

11.06 BST: WEAH RETURNS TO PSG!!! No not George Weah. His 14-year-old son Timothy has signed with PSG's youth academy.

10.57 BST: Barcelona have apparently turned their attentions from Juan Cuadrado to Douglas Periera Dos Santos of Sao Paulo, according to various reports. Apparently the Colombian will cost too much money and so a six million euro deal for the Brazilian full-back is more likely to happen.

10.52 BST: Some insight into the PSG and Petr Cech rumours from ESPN's own Jonathan Johnson.

Zero truth in rumours that PSG want to replace Sirigu with Cech IMO. If it was Cech a few years ago, it might have made sense. But not now.

10.44 BST: Swansea are bracing themselves for a 16 million pound bid from Liverpool for star striker Wilfried Bony.According to the Express, the Ivorian has been in prolonged talks with the Reds about a move and wants to be playing his football at Anfield next season.

10.37 BST: PSG are also flat-out refusing to sell Edinson Cavani but will happily listen to offers for Adrien Rabiot, who won't sign a new deal with the French champions and could leave on a free next summer. Also, Ezequiel Lavezzi is up for sale as PSG look to get his 5.5 million euro annual salary off the wage bill.

10.35 BST: The latest from our man Jonathan Johnson. Yet another club interested in Andre Schurrle.

L'Equipe: PSG are interested in Chelsea's Andre Schurrle, but have not made contact regarding a potential move.

10.28 BST: Liverpool could announce the signing of Alberto Moreno as early as today bringing to an end one of the most on-off-on-off transfer sagas of the summer.

10.24 BST: Arjen Robben still has three years left on his contract with Bayern Munich and he insists the Bundesliga champions will be his last major club. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid man told Sport 1: "I have no more dreams. I feel really fine here in Munich. FC Bayern are my club, and it will stay like that. I don't know what happens after that. My hometown, Groningen, will always remain in my heart."

10.18 BST: The list of clubs after Olympiakos' highly rated Greek defender Kostas Manolas just grows and grows. The Express are reporting Arsenal have been quoted eight million pounds for his signature but will face competition from Tottenham, Everton and Sunderland. Add them to Juventus, Roma and Bayern Munich and we've got an auction on our hands.

10.13 BST: Newcastle United defender Davide Santon has brushed off rumours linking him with a move to Fiorentina. Talking to Firenzeviola.it, the Italian said: "Personally, I don't know anything. My agent hasn't let me know anything about any rumour on the transfer market, so I don't really know where this rumour comes from."

10.09 BST: Further to that Carlos Sanchez transfer, Elche are prepared to let him go having secured the signing of Jose Canas from Swansea, as reported by Sport Witness.

09.56 BST: Arsenal and Spurs are set to do battle again but this time for the signature of diminutive Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco. According to TalkSport, Juventus are keen to sell and will accept bids around the ten million pound mark after giving the 27-year-old just 570 minutes of first-team football last season.

09.49 BST: Newcastle have been dealt a blow by Clement Grenier's agent who told Foot Mercato: "I have been in talks with Newcastle on and off since January 2014. They were a real possibility. We looked at what they had to offer, and I preferred to say no."

09.45 BST: Be honest, this is the picture we've all been waiting for...

09.42 BST: Such is the climate in modern football that Everton signing two players from Chelsea has caused many to question whether the London club have a first option over Everton's up and coming stars. Read the full story here.

09.38 BST: It doesn't rain in Crystal Palace, it pours. According to the Croydon Advertiser, the Eagles look set to miss out on fan-favourite Wilfried Zaha as QPR look set to swoop in and sign him on a one-year loan deal from Manchester United.

09.34 BST: Burnley showing a ruthless streak! According to the Brighton Argus, Stephen Ward was supposed to show up at the Amex Stadium yesterday to sign a contract with Brighton and Hove Albion but instead went AWOL. Apparently he is on his way to Burnley who made a last minute bid to Wolves and the Irishman now wants to join the Premier League new-boys.

09.30 BST: Ajax are set to smash their wage structure in order to lure Samuel Eto'o to the club according to De Telegraaf. The Cameroon international will be the Dutch club's highest paid player and the Daily Star expect the Eredivisie champions to beat Liverpool to his signature.

09.26 BST:The Glasgow Evening Times are reporting that Paul Lambert remains calm over the future of Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar. However, in a rather conflicting report from De Telegraaf, the Dutch claim Lambert is resigned to losing his captain and is just waiting for Southampton manager Ronald Koeman to come in with a bid.

09.21 BST: Following our previous Arsenal post, if Arsene Wenger gets any one of those three targets, there is no reason they can't win the league!

Wenger also still hoping to add someone before the end of window and says 'we have a chance' to win the league this year

09.15 BST: Arsenal are all set to make ambitious moves for Marco Reus, Edinson Cavani and Sami Khedira before the end of the transfer window. The Metro claim with Mathieu Flamini and Lukas Podolski set to be sold, the Gunners will be able to afford the three superstars who would cost over 100 million pounds between them.

09.09 BST: Hans Joachim Watzke is putting the pressure on Marco Reus to sign a new deal. With potential investors Puma backing Borussia Dortmund it could see the sportswear giants pay part of Reus' wages, who is also one of their biggest ambassadors. Watzke told Sky: "Marco Reus knows that we want to extend his contract. We try to convince him with the package of his hometown, his emotions for BVB and a decent financial offer."

Puma are set to pay big money to Borussia Dortmund in order to keep Marco Reus at the club.

09.05 BST: Hamburg investor Carl Kühne tells Hamburger Abendblatt that he would love to see Germany international Max Kruse, 26, at the club. "He would be someone for HSV. He's from the region, and has Hamburg roots." "Sometime in the future, Hamburg should win the Champions League!"

08.52 BST:Klaas-Jan Huntelaar says he is not currently considering leaving Schalke. The Netherlands striker is under contract until 2015, and told reporters: "The club has not talked to my agent yet. I don't know what the club is planning and I am waiting for a signal. One thing is clear: I feel really great here, and I'm not thinking about a transfer at the moment."

08.42 BST: DONE DEAL Former Hamburg midfielder Robert Tesche joins Nottingham Forest on a free. The slow but powerful 27-year-old had been one of many players unhappy at Hamburg.

08.38 BST:Kicker links Werder Bremen to Costa Rica international Bryan Ruiz, but admits that it will be difficult for the Bundesliga side to agree a deal with Felix Magath's Fulham, who are looking at some six million euros at least. Ruiz and Magath are not best friends, which could make it easier for Bremen, kicker claims, but says that right now the only chance to get the 28-year-old's signature is a loan deal during the final days of the transfer period. Local paper Kreiszeitung mentions another option -- Eljero Elia could be sold after all to generate money for a permanent deal for Ruiz.

Barca seeks Cuad reinforcement

Fiorentina are playing Real Madrid in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday because, well, they can. And there is a high-profile absentee from their travelling party, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport. It's none other than Juan Cuadrado, with the official line being that a suspension he must serve on the opening day of the Serie A season means his club doesn't need him for this preparatory fixture.

Juan Cuadrado, shown here in a game with current club Fiorentina, is sitting out his Serie A side's upcoming friendly. That news has restoked the transfer fires with news of the Colombian's impending move to Barcelona.

But the newspaper says that "behind this exclusion it seems there is a hand of Barca," with Barcelona having been linked with the Colombian wide man for longer than we can care to remember. It suggests the La Liga giants had given the impression of turning their attentions elsewhere in a bid to persuade Fiorentina to reduce their asking price of 50 million euros but that, in fact, their interest is still very much alive and they have already agreed terms with the player and his agent. It could just be this one is wrapped up before too long -- but, then again, it has been one of the summer's longer running tales.

TRANSFERS BY LEAGUE

Maybe Real Madrid simply need to be seen to be in for any player who's hot stuff these days, or maybe they genuinely do want to snap them all up and then take their ball home. Liverpool aren't planning to find out with regard to Raheem Sterling. The Mirror reports that Carlo Ancelotti & Co. are keeping tabs on the young forward, but that the carrot of a new contract -- that would quadruple his wages -- will be deployed in order to keep him sweet at Anfield.

Remy still a Ranger

Spoilsports that they are, the Mirror have also put the kibosh on another big-name deal -- although this time, to be fair, it is the player's manager doing most of the talking. It seemed for most of the summer that Loic Remy would be long gone from Queens Park Rangers by now, but Harry Redknapp insists that the Frenchman is happy to rebuild his bridges at Loftus Road and would entertain leaving only for a Champions League club. A far cry from the halcyon days of that medical at Anfield when a move to Liverpool seemed all but done. But Remy staying would be a big boost for the West London side if he proves to be as good as his word.

Tony Pulis helped Crystal Palace avoid the drop in last year's Premier League season. He won't be around to see them through their 2014-15 campaign.

Pulis check

Most of Friday's back pages lead on Tony Pulis' surprise departure from Crystal Palace, but there's a job for us here, too, because that exit came about largely due to -- yes -- failed transfers. We're hearing that Pulis was at loggerheads with chairman Steve Parish about a mooted return for ex-Palace winger Wilfred Zaha, and that several deals he had sought to seal had not been pushed through to his satisfaction. All of this allows us to tangentially wonder, too, where on earth Zaha might pitch up next ...

Crazy, huh? Ex-Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner seems to have found a home at last after months of to-ing, fro-ing and reportedly turning down a raft of offers. Wolfsburg have reportedly agreed a deal for the Danish international -- who really needs to start playing some football now in order to go some way toward fulfilling his potential. Presumably, the Bundesliga club was swayed by the Owen Hargreaves-esque fitness videos. Anyway, the Mail has more on this one.

Cambiasso to be a Fox?

More from the Mail, who remind us that Leicester are still very keen indeed on Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso -- even if whomever leaked the story might find their life is not worth living when Nigel Pearson catches up with them.